| Ibrahim Sultan | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Timurid Prince | |||||
.jpg) Contemporary portrait of Ibrahim Sultan holding court in his throne-room.Shahnamah of Ibrahim SultanBodleian Library MS. Ouseley Add. 176 f.239b (detail).[1][2] | |||||
| Born | 1394 | ||||
| Died | 3 April 1435 (aged 40–41) | ||||
| Issue | Abdallah Mirza Several others | ||||
| |||||
| House | House of Timur | ||||
| Father | Shah Rukh | ||||
| Religion | Islam | ||||
Ibrahim Sultan (Persian:ابراهيم سلطان بن شاهرخ) (Shawwāl 796 AH/August 1394 AD – Shawwāl 838 AH/ May 1435 AD) was aTimurid prince who governed a region aroundmodern Fars from 1415 to 1435 under his fatherShah Rukh. He was grandson of the conquerorTimur and died on 3 April 1435, around twelve years before his father.
_in_battle_against_Ibrahim_Sultan_(right)._1430_Shahnama%2c_Bodleian_Library%2c_ms._Add_176%2c_folios_6r-7v.jpg)
Ibrahim Sultan fought in the campaigns of his fatherShah Rukh against theQara Qoyunlu. In particular, he faced the Qara Qoyunlu rulerIskander in battle in 1429, where he was victorious.[3]
Ibrahim Sultan commissioned at least four illustrated manuscripts, includingSharaf ad-Din Ali Yazdi'sbiography of Timur,[4] a copy ofNizami'sIskandarnāma (Book of Alexander) that was completed in 1435/36,[5] aShāhnāma (Bodleian Library MS. Ouseley Add. 176) that was prepared between the 1420s and early 1430s,[6] and anAnthology that was finished in 1420 and dedicated to his brother,Prince Baysunghur.[7]
Ibrahim Sultan was an accomplished artist, avid calligrapher and great collector of books. Known to be observant in matters of religion, he personally scribed pious inscriptions on two madrasas he founded in Shiraz and at least five copies of the Qur'an.[8]There remains a handwritten Qur'an in two volumes by him written inNaskh script. Every page of this Qur'an, finished in June 1427, has profusely decorated margins of floral scrolls in gold and color. This two-part Qur'an is a splendid example of lavish manuscript production in the early Timurid period. They were stored in a small room on top of theQur'an Gate in Shiraz. Travelers passing underneath the gates were believed to receive the blessing of the Holy Book as they began their trip or journey from Shiraz. In 1937 the two Qur'ans were taken from the gate and were taken to the Pars Museum in Shiraz, where they remain today.[9]
Sultan Ibrahim is also said to have repaired the Masjid-i Atiq but that soon thereafter it was again ruined by an earthquake.[10]
_003v_(detail).jpg)
Ibrahim had four wives:
Ibrahim had four sons:
Ibrahim had two daughters:
Folios 239b,240a. Ibrahim Sultan holding court in his throne-room (fol. 239b), whilst outside, his Queen, on a balcony with her ladies, watches a gardener at work (fol. 240a). There is a little repainting on the clothes on fol. 239b. The authors of BWG (p. 68, top) consider that these two pages should not face each other, but that they have been disarranged by rebinding. Admittedly this was the case with the double-page compositions at the beginning of the volume, but there it is not unnatural that folios should become detached by wear and tear. Here, however, there seems no reason to assume that anything similar has taken place; on the contrary, it may be permissible to suppose that the artist, wishing to portray both Ibrahim Sultan and his Queen, preferred to place each in characteristic surroundings, and to connect the two halves of the miniature by the garden, parts of which can be seen through the windows of the throne-room.
The double-page battle scene in which Ibrahim Sultan, on the right, is shown confidently leading his troops toward a Turkman force, on the left, headed by Iskandar b. Kara Yusuf, who turns back biting his finger in consternation (figs. 3-4). This image is the frontispiece for a copy of Firdawsi's Shāhnāma and is thus not accompanied by any explanatory text, but it does correspond to descriptions of a battle that occurred on April 1429 which are contained in Timurid historical sources. Although neither of these key figures is labeled, each of them would have been recognized by a contemporary viewer because of this event's notoriety.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link){{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)Ibrahim Sultan holding court in his throne-room (fol. 239&}, whilst outside, his Queen, on a balcony with her ladies, watches a gardener at work (fol. 240a).
Folios 2a, 3b. Ibrahim Sultan on a hunting expedition. He appears on horseback (foL 3b) spearing a lion, while his henchmen, assisted by a hound and a hunting cheetah drive a variety of game towards him (fol 2a). The general condition of this miniature is better than the last, but every single face has been overpainted except for three (one of which is fortunately that of Ibrahim Sultan himself) on folio 3b; the whole gives a splendid impression of movement.